Meditation of course - but which kind?

Over these last few weeks I keep coming across research that suggests that mindfulness meditation does not improve performance, and that it is actually having a negative impact on our productivity at work. If mindfulness is about watching things unfold, acceptance and not taking action, this makes sense.

We all know that meditation is good for us, but which type of meditation works best?

Despite practicing meditation regularly for nearly 3 decades now, I am far from being an expert – actually I hold a strong belief that even if we have been meditating for years and years that we are all beginners simply because there is always another layer of consciousness or awareness to be discovered.

I started meditating shortly after my mother passed away when I was 21 – that was one of the blessings of her passing. And over the years I have tried many different types of meditation. What I absolutely do know is that different types of meditation ask different things from the meditator. So the results are of course going to be different too.

My journey started with Transcendental Meditation, otherwise known as TM. It’s a technique based on the Vedic traditions so dating back to at least 1700BC. Literally millions of people around the world have learnt and practiced this technique including several celebrities – and it is easy to understand why. It is so simple!

When learning TM, the teacher gives the student a mantra which the meditator simply silently repeats over and over to her/himself in their own mind whilst sitting in a comfortable chair for 20 minutes twice a day. You do not need to sit crossed legged in isolation. This technique can be practiced anywhere – a park, an office, a plane, a taxi. The mind literally transcends, so in real terms what really happens is that even on those hectic days the mind slows without any struggle, as does the breath, and the body goes into a state of deep, deep rest. When you return, you feel refreshed and ready to handle the next challenge.

In my early 20’s I noticed that my life just got better when I was practicing TM regularly. And I noticed too that there was less stress, and more creativity and clarity with that regular practice.

But not satisfied that I had found ‘THE’ technique, and being curious by nature, I stopped TM and began exploring other types of meditation which lead me to 10 days in a Thai Buddhist monastery in silence where we spent all day, every day in mindfulness. We were taught to notice our thoughts, follow our breath, feel the ground beneath our feet, chew every mouthful of food very slowly so that we could taste every morsel. This was a very different experience to grabbing a sandwich and eating behind the desk on a busy day in the office.

Mindfulness is based on the Buddhist teachings from around 400BC, and if I were to have to sum it up for our modern day living I would probably refer to Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition. “To pay attention on purpose in the present and non-judgementally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.” I remember that it was tough going even when shut away in a Buddhist monastery, and so even with a strong intention to continue the mindfulness journey in real life, for me it was extremely hard, and rather constricting. I found myself living life to meditate, rather than meditating to live life.

Over the years I have also tried a number of other guided meditations. Today there are a ton of them out there that appear on apps, or downloads that we can purchase or be sent daily – having tried some of these I would suggest that some of them are an attempt to render us more ‘spiritual’. Others seek to reprogram, or reinforce the programming of our sub-conscious in order to change our beliefs so we may lead more ‘successful’ or happier lives. These never really worked for me.

And then there are other yogic meditations that I have tried from the Kundalini yoga tradition where there are funny hand positions (mudras), and sometimes some movement and chanting, each designed for a different outcome. In the moment they made me feel great, but they didn’t seem to have a lasting effect.

So after doing the rounds, around 3 years ago, having lost my way meditatively speaking, when I was scrolling through Face Book (mindfully of course), I came across a Transcendental Meditation teacher close to where I live. It felt a good idea to call him, have a check in and maybe go back to where I started. As you can imagine with my links to Africa, I was delighted to know that this man Guenael Boucher had spent 3 years in Senegal teaching TM in a prison there. My 30 minute check in quickly became a wonderful and very rich 2 hour exchange. I started TM again that day, and I cannot imagine stopping again.

And since that day I realise that I longer need candles nor anything else that might symbolically connect me with the essence of who I am. Repeating my mantra for 20 minutes twice a day takes care of all that. But of course, each to their own. It is all about being clear what you want from your daily practice, and then choosing the right path.